Birds and Nature

I went back out to Brush Hollow Reservoir before Memorial Day week-end to try for some better views and photos of the Red-throated Loon that is far south of where it should be at this time of year. I was rewarded with closer views, only 2-400 feet away, as the loon preened, stretched and did a little diving when there were fewer fishermen on the shore and in boats to chase it into the middle of the lake. This allowed me to get pretty good pics with my telephoto lens combo (totally over 600 mm eqivalence) when I cropped and lightened them. This loon appears to be in adult non-breeding/Definitive Basic plumage. The bottom pic shows the white spots on the back that is most prominent in Basic plumage than Alternate plumage. There were some dark smudgy areas on the front part of the loon's neck, possibly indicative of the beginnings of it's molt into Breeding/Definitive Alternate plumage. SeEtta

This Red-throated Loon was found this morning by local birder, Rich, at Brush Hollow Reservoir about 15 miles northeast of Canon City, CO, near the small town of Penrose. Though birds of this species do show up on inland lakes in Colorado in the winter, this is really late for one to be so far south since the adults are in Canada by now as they breed very far north in Alaska and other extreme northern locations. This is likely the first time this species has ever been documented in this county, a semi-arid area with few bodies of water. SeEtta